East Hill Ground Tank

OCWA Water Storage Tank Maintenance

EAST HILL GROUND TANK

The Onondaga County Water Authority will be completing maintenance work on the East Hill water storage tank located at 3076 W. Seneca Turnpike/Rte 175 in Marcellus, NY. The ground tank was built in 1986. Paint systems on our water tanks typically last for 20 years or so. As it has now been 27 years, the tank is in need of repainting. While the tank painting project is being completed, we will also be conducting other maintenance and repair items to improve the safety and security of the tank.

A company that specializes in water tank maintenance will complete the work, which we anticipate will begin in March. Before the tank can be repainted, the old paint must first be removed. During this process, which is done through an abrasive blast method using air compressors, the tank will be fully enclosed in a containment system. This containment system allows for easy collection of the old paint and blast material, and provides the best environment for the application of the first coat of new paint. The new paint being applied is a low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) environmentally friendly paint. The contractor will access the site utilizing the existing driveway off of Seneca Turnpike. During the work we will have an inspector onsite monitoring the work of the painting contractor.

We anticipate that the maintenance work will be completed by late April or early May. As with any maintenance work, there will be some noise from the contractor’s equipment during the work, but we ask that you bear with us as this work is necessary to maintain the long term viability of your water supply and keep maintenance at a minimum for the next 20 years.

If you have any questions regarding the work you can contact either the Project Manager, Debborah Owens at extension 3131, or our Executive Engineer, Geoffrey G. Miller, P.E., BCEE at extension 3153.